Tennis: I was nearly Aussie - Federer

Australia likes adopting European players, whether officially or unofficially. Anastasia Rodionova, who was born in Russia, and Jarmila Groth, from Slovakia, have both been given Australian citizenship in recent weeks, while Kim Clijsters, through her former engagement to Lleyton Hewitt, and Ana Ivanovic, by dint of her family connections in Melbourne, were quickly dubbed "Aussie Kim" and "Aussie Ana".

It was revealed yesterday that even the greatest of them all might have set up camp by a billabong under the shade of a coolibah tree. After reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open here with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Albert Montanes, Roger Federer said his parents had considered emigrating Downunder when he was a teenager.

"I remember my parents having a debate: are we moving from Switzerland to come live here?" Federer said. "We went on a big vacation through Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns to get a better idea of the country. Beautiful vacation - but in the end we decided to stay in Switzerland."

How the Australians could do with Federer, who also has South African citizenship through his mother. Hewitt and Sam Stosur, who reached the fourth round yesterday with victories over Marcos Baghdatis and Alberta Brianti respectively, are the only Aussies left in singles competition and not likely to be around much longer. Stosur's next opponent is Serena Williams, the world No 1, while Hewitt faces Federer, who has beaten him 14 times in a row.

Federer faltered in his opener against Igor Andreev but has coasted through his subsequent matches.

Montanes, the world No 32, never looked capable of stopping the Swiss extending his remarkable record of reaching the last 16 of every Grand Slam since he lost in the third round of the French Open six years ago.

"I don't want to say I'm playing the best tennis of my life, because I haven't had to so far," Federer said. "I feel like I'm fresh and ready to take on the bigger names."

Hewitt completed his victory over Baghdatis considerably quicker than two years ago, when the Australian defeated the Cypriot at 4.34am. He was leading 6-0, 4-2 when Baghdatis retired with a shoulder injury.

Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko underlined their status as the two strongest challengers in Federer's half of the draw with emphatic victories. Djokovic, who won the title here two years ago, steamrollered Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. The Serb now plays Pole Lukasz Kubot, whose scheduled opponent, Mikhail Youzhny, withdrew with a hurt wrist.

"It was good to have a match like this," Djokovic said. "At some stage in the tournament you want to have a straight-sets win, an easy win, so you can get off the court fast and try to save as much energy as you can for the upcoming challenges."

Having played 97 matches last year - more than any other player - Djokovic is delighted to keep his time on court to a minimum.

- INDEPENDENT